Of Mouse and Menos
by Meander Red
Summary: A college student who is friend with Ichigo ends up becoming shinigami after encountering the traitors. But she also has her own job with keeping everything in balance. Will Soul Society accept her? Character romance occurs between OC X Canon Temp Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello. Due to evil, evil unit plans have not been able to post very much lately and needed to post something so I reopened an old story from when I had first started reading Bleach and was teaching a mythology course simultaneously. For those of you who are unfamiliar, before I even begin, my OC is a rusubin, which is in Japanese tradition is a caretaker who watches a house while people are away to prevent the kami from playing tricks. In this variation however, while anyone can take that role as well, those are more of assistances for people who are known as "true rusubin" or "born rusubin" by the rusubin council (need to keep track of things somehow) who perform this task with lots of metaphysical mumbo-jumbo in order to maintain the balance between the normal and paranormal in much the same way the shinigami help keep the balance between the living world and Soul Society. This means that they have some abilities and strengths to do this, but it also does not make them into Mary Sues and Harry Stus. Most of the rusubin are polite and law abiding out of necessity, as you will see later, but it does not make them less human and it also does not mean that they cannot get hurt or die, but just that if they need to deal with nasty critters, they can. Hopefully you will see what I mean as the story unfolds.

"Yourichi! Stop that thing!" Rukia shouted as she ran into Urahara's shop, slamming the door behind her as she did so.

Yourichi looked up from where she was sitting on the counter, startled momentarily by the young shinigami woman's entrance, and then turned, trying to see what it was that she was supposed to be stopping. After a moment her eyes caught a slight movement in the corner, and she turned to see something huddled in the corner. Or rather, she saw the rieatsu of whatever it was that was huddled in the corner, since the thing itself seemed to be an invisible sort of blur. For a second, she toyed with the idea of becoming a cat to chase it, and then shook her head, jumping down from the counter and walked over cautiously to examine the source of the rieatsu more closely. Whatever it was, Yourichi decided after about a minute of waiting, seemed unlikely to attack her.

Urahara came running out of the back room of the shop. "It was supposed to arrive inside the shop, not the middle of the street. Ah well. Yourichi, did it arrive yet?" he called out as he moved to stand, curiously bent over behind the crouched Yourichi to be better able to peer over her shoulder.

She looked up at him, a bit annoyed as she reached into her pocket to get a handkerchief. "Unless whatever it is was supposed to be invisible, Kuchiki Rukia, or part of a creepy shopkeeper's staff, no." With a deep breath, she reached with both hands into the center of the leaking power. There was a sound which might have been a whimper, but then nothing as Yourichi stood, hands cupped gently around the small form struggling inside the scrap of cloth tucked into her palms.

Urahara looked closely at the scrap of cloth, poking gently at it. Yourichi felt whatever it was gasp, pounding and kicking at the palms of her hands as it tried to pull away. Keeping a firm grip on the handkerchief, she reached up and grabbed Urahara's hat, dumped the bundle inside, and handed it back to him.

"Yourichi, did you catch it?" Rukia asked as she moved, trying to see what it was that the former shinigami captain had put into the shopkeeper's hat.

"Catch what?"

"The unknown spirit that signaled this," she said, pulling something which looked like a cell phone out of her robes. Both of Yourichi and Urahara knew that it was not a cell phone.

The other woman sighed. "Kuchiki Rukia, I do not know what sort of signal that your Hollow alerting device sent out, but it appears that whatever else it was, it was a false alarm. Probably just a mouse that is having some odd side effects from nibbling on Kisuke's merchandise.

Urahara began to walk towards the back room again, looking oddly dejected as he carried his hat. "Come on, little mouse. Let's see what it was that made this happen to you."

He turned back by the door "I'm sorry, Yourichi. It appears that my delivery ended up getting to the person who wanted it after all."

The reply that Yourichi might have given that enigmatic comment was lost because while she and Rukia looked on, a badly injured woman appeared at Urahara's feet, blood staining the front of what looked like shinigami robes while a dumbfounded Urahara holding his hat with an empty handkerchief inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Yourichi secured the last stitch to the shoulder wound she was working on and sat back on her heels, letting Rukia to finish cleaning the small cuts at the woman's scalp and throat before turning toward where a basin of warm water, a towel, and a jar of healing salve that Kisuke had helped Ururu carry in before leaving the back room to watch the shop. Or, more accurately, to go and help Tessai guard the shop against the fighting outside from spilling inside. Still, she tensed as she heard Urahara jokingly chide what sounded like an idiot who couldn't read the closed sign on the shop until she heard the childlike voice that answered him, the words carrying strong and clear over the sound of fighting outside.

"Hat 'n Clogs, have you seen Ichi-nii or Rukia? I need to find them. Something bad just happened and Dad is going to need Ichigo to help kill whoever hurt Masumi-san this time. Are they here? Are they all right?"

Rukia's head snapped up sharply as she set down the cloth that she had been washing the cuts with. "Karin? Why is she -?"

The injured shinigami began to stir restlessly as she began to regains and Yourichi got up to cover her with a blanket. "Go take care of whatever it is. And bring back more warm water on the way back. I want to get started on her feet."

Rukia bowed and strode into the main body of the shop. She could see Karin, standing, ready to square off against the shopkeeper, still wearing the knee socks and cleats from soccer practice.

"Now, Hat'n Clogs, hand over my big brother from wherever you are hiding him!"

"You have your brother's timing. Urahara is not hiding Ichigo, Karin." Rukia replied, standing with her arms folded.

Karin turned and looked up. "Rukia! Why are you wearing - never mind, that's a stupid question. You wouldn't be wearing shinigami robes if you weren't shinigami. But I need to find Ichi-nii. I need to tell him about Masumi. I felt something hurt her, something really, really strong and she's worse than the boy inside Chad's parakeet was. Where is he?"

Her voice was so sure, so matter of fact, that many people might have missed the demand hidden in Karin's words. Then again, many people had not taken up the position of permanent guest in the Kurosaki household either. Rukia looked levelly at the girl, trying to find the words to answer Ichigo's sister. She certainly deserved the truth about what was going on, and Rukia had no doubt that Kurosaki Karin was strong enough to handle it. But strong or not, it did not change the fact she was a ten year old girl, and telling her just how likely it was for her brother to be hurt or killed in the war they were fighting would be cruel. "Ichigo is fighting some of the monsters that have been showing up lately about a street over. He will come here as soon as the fight is finished. He was in one of the first groups to arrive today, so it shouldn't be too much longer. There will be other people coming in, since this is where we are coming to regroup, so you might be told to stay out of the way. Please don't argue, especially if whoever tells you is wearing a white haori or a rank badge on their sleeve or waist. I - We are going to have to have a long talk about shinigami and some recent events after this is all over. But right now, I need to get that water for Yourichi-san to get the bandages off."

Karin followed at Rukia's heels. "Then, I'll help you. And don't tell me I can't. You know that Ol' Beardo let's me do more than that helping at the clinic."

Rukia looked over her shoulder as she grabbed a basin off the shelf, and then reached up and grabbed another, handing the second to Karin. "I wasn't going to. Anyway, there will be less of an issue for you to stay if you're being useful."

The other girl nodded solemnly as she handed the empty basin to Rukia. There was a momentary pause as Rukia turned off the spigot and hefted the other basin up out of the sink.

"Good. This should be enough water to start with. This way, then." As she gestured with her head for Karin to follow her into the back.

"Bring them over here," Yourichi called, waving them over to where she was sitting in front of the now conscious shinigami, her robes invisible, wrapped as she was in a blanket which might have once been navy but had faded to a truly hideous shade of purple over the years. Rukia did so, taking care not to hit Yourichi's hands by accident as she moved one of the bandaged feet in her hands, looking for hidden breaks and sprains. She had just turned to take the second basin from Karin when she heard a gasp behind her and a startled hoarse whisper call out softly.

"Karin-chan! What is- why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for Ichi-nii to show up. But, Masumi- san, you're -"

"I'm fine. You worry too much about a little mouse like me."

"But you promised Ichigo and dad that the next time one of your boyfriends hurt you!"

"It wasn't my boyfriend. Just - just a couple of gang members who broke into my house. They roughed me up a bit before realizing that there wasn't anything there worth the effort. Honestly, Karin. I'm not hurt. Just a few stitches to the shoulder and sore feet. Nothing to worry about. I'll be fine."

"But-"

"Karin. Listen to me. I am fine." Even injured, there was something behind the young woman's last few words that carried, defying anyone to argue otherwise. She looked up at Karin as Yourichi began trying to loosen the tops of the bandages from where they were crusted, stiff against her ankle. "Rhoysin-rudd, you don't need to worry about me. If you start, however am I going to tell you apart from Eira-gwin?"

Karin forced a smile and shook her head. "Masumi, you see more stuff that I do. If you can't tell the difference between me and Yuzu, then it's pretty bad."

"I know that, Karin-chan, and I wouldn't remember enough of what Granny Davies taught me to tease you in Welsh if it were that bad either, now would I?" the older girl retorted with a weak smile. Rukia was touched by her attempts to keep Karin from worrying about her, but even as she watched Karin rub her eyes and smile back at Masumi, Rukia knew that the younger girl had not been fooled by the act. No one there had been, not even Masumi.

Yourichi looked up at Karin and then turned to Rukia. "Hmm. These bandages are not coming off as easily as I thought. Can you go get scissors from the cupboard? And some of the medicine that Kisuke keeps in the blackened glass bottles? I think we can manage in here for a few minutes."

Karin looked up. "I can go get them."

Yourichi nodded. "All right. Ask Urahara for the medicine. He's the only one who can find it on those shelves. Remember, the little blackened glass bottles. Got it?"

"Yes, Yourichi-san," Karin squeezed Masumi's blanketed hand softly before turning and running out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you absolutely sure it was the black bottle of medicine and not the blue or purple ones?"

"Yourichi-san said she needed scissors and the medicine you had in the little black bottles."

Urahara sighed and climbed up another step on the ladder. He kept that particular medicine on the highest shelf in his shop, tucked behind the case of explosive antiseptic cream and the jar of cherry sake in the back corner so that neither Ururu or Jinta would ever grab them by mistake. None of his assistants ever got things from that part of this shelf which he privately thought of as the "Things That Annoy Yourichi" shelf. Still, the thick liquid in the bottles was an instantaneous anesthetic, even if he was not able to use it as the weapon enhancer he had invented it to be because of objections from Yourichi and Benihime that it made both of them sneeze. "She normally can't stand this one," he muttered and began to hand down other random bottles from the shelf to where Karin was standing below, filling her arms until she could barely move until he finally was able to get a hold of what he had been looking for tightly in his left hand and still grab a hold of the ladder. He would need his right hand free if he wanted her to listen.

"And," he began, continuing his previous conversation with Karin as if he had never interrupted it, "we have been at war with him since that happened. So, Kurosaki Karin, there is your explanation." He balanced carefully and reaching with his right hand, pulled his cane from where he had it belted to his waist and pointed it at her, pushing just enough energy through that she could see the image of Benihime underneath. "Now that you know that, if you go to run out of my shop again until after the battle outside has ended, I will beat you. Do you understand me?"

Karin swallowed and nodded.

Urahara smiled and put his cane back at his belt. "Good. I would hate to have Kurosaki-kun trying to kill me for hitting his younger sister." He walked down the ladder a few more steps, taking the bottles, jars, and odd snake shaped flasks back from her to put back with the rest of the merchandise.

The door opened and Ichigo walked in, breathless but, for today at least, unwounded leaning against the wall as Tessai shut the door behind him.

"Oy, Hat'n Clogs! Anyone else shown up yet?"

Urahara turned as much as he could on the ladder. "Ah, Kurosaki-kun. Rukia is in the back room helping Yourichi, but there is someone else here who was looking for you."

Ichigo walked over, grabbing the bundle of items that Urahara pushed into his arms just as he saw the equally bottle laden figure on the other side of the ladder.

"Karin, how- what - why are you here?"

"Ichi-nii! I came here looking for you."

"You could have been killed! What was so important for you to find me right now?"

Karin looked him directly in the eye, her dark eyes solemn as Urahara took the last of the bottles from both of them and placed them back on the shelf.

"It's Masumi-san and she's hurt really badly this time. It's worse than last time. Ichigo, she's worse than the boy in the parakeet. Only she was fine this morning, so I don't know how, but they need to die for doing this to her."

Ichigo looked at his little sister, completely stunned by what she had just said and blinked. "Masumi-sensei? But, no, she promised she would never -- Karin, do you know where Masumi is?"

Urahara grabbed Ichigo's hand and closed the fingers over the surgical scissors and medicine before Karin could answer. "She's in the back room."

Ichigo did not stop to answer or say a single word. He simply ran to the back, leaving Urahara and Karin standing near the ladder. Karin moved to follow her brother and Urahara put his hand on hr shoulder.

"Just a minute. Let us see what happens first."

Karin looked up at him, eyes glittering at the suggestion. He looked back down at her, eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat.

"Wait." He straightened up slowly. "Let Ichigo take this up with his teacher."

"She isn't his teacher. Not at school, anyway. She only helps with the English and drama classes for work study."

"Then why did Ichigo call her sensei?"

Karin continued to stare at Urahara, the angry glare that she had fixed at him still unwavering, still unflinching. "Masumi-san is the one who first taught Ichigo and me how to tell the difference between the living and the dead."


	4. Chapter 4

The door to the back room opened up again, and she watched as Ichigo came storming into the room and tried to hold back a sigh, wincing as the woman at her feet pulled a little more of the bandages off. She was still too weak to focus for long, let alone the sort of meditation she needed to be able to find the glass tower where she went when things were worse than this, bad enough that she could not even feel the pain. The fact that she was still aware enough to hurt would normally be a good thing. None of what had happened today was normal though. Masumi had spent too much of her life seeing things that other people couldn't to not realize just what had happened to her. What she had done to herself. At least she would be able to keep one of her last promises to Ichigo before her ghost was forced to move on.

"Hail thee, blithe spirit," she said. Her voice was starting to get stronger again, a bit shaky, but no longer so hoarse from the cuts around her throat. At least she knew Ichigo would be able to hear her traditional greeting. The sooner he knew it was her, the sooner this would be over with.

"Masumi, who kil-."

She cut him off midword. "Hush, Ichigo. I need you to listen. I promised that I would tell you the next time someone hurt me. I've already broken my word to you once today with letting this happen, so let me not make things worse. I only heard the names of the men who did this to me once, as they were dragging me out of -of where I hid inside myself. They all blurred together when they did that, but I will tell you what I heard sounded like Kona, Meginai, and Sensama. Those are probably wrong, but they are the names I heard."

She bowed her head as she said the last, letting her hair fall away so that the back of her neck was bare. A few seconds passed and she gritted her teeth, trying not to think of what was going to happen when she felt Ichigo kneel down next to her."

"Look at me."

"What? I - "

"Dakamoragu Masumi, look at me."

She raised her head slowly and looked directly at Ichigo, her own hazel eyes meeting his brown ones. He reached out a hand and laid it softly against her cheek, holding her face still, and she fought not to flinch at the touch, reminding herself that this was Kurosaki Ichigo, the boy she had befriended and taught for six years. She let that unspoken mantra repeat in her head a few times before she breathed deeply, waiting for him to finish talking.

"You did not break your oath. No, don't interrupt me. You gave me your word that if anyone tried to hurt you again, you would try to stop them or get away and that afterwards, you would tell me or Ol' Beardo their names. You got to the shop, and as soon as you saw me, you told me the names. I say that means you kept your promise. And don't try to tell me you could have done more to stop them because you know damn well you couldn't have. Now, drink this before Yourichi sneezes herself to death. Unless something breaks into the shop, you'll be safe here. I promise. Now, take the freaking medicine"

Masumi took the bottle off of Ichigo and drank it down. She had a second to register that it tasted awful, like a weird amalgam of motor oil, grape jelly, and pepper before everything in her vision began to blur and darken. The last thing she saw before her vision went dark was Ichigo and the lighter complected girl who looked like the transfer student that Ichigo was friends with helping her to lay down while Karin sat keeping watch from the corner.


	5. Chapter 5

It was another forty five minutes before Yourichi emerged from the back room, looking tired and exhausted, followed by an equally exhausted Rukia down the hallway and into the sitting room where all of the other shinigami and ryoka who had been fighting today were gathered. She did a quick head count of the figures crowded into the narrow space. Yes, all eight of them were here now, ten if you counted her and Kisuke.

Yourichi yawned and straightened up, flexing her back to work a knot loose that had formed after three hours sitting on the floor and working healing kidou. She reached up a hand to swat her hair back out of her face and began to listen to what Renji was saying about the Hollow attacks that they had been fighting from her place just inside the doorway.

"How is the girl," Kisuke asked quietly, looking to where Ichigo was pacing in the corner, his hands clenching and unclenching as he moved back and forth restlessly, oblivious to everyone and everything else in the room, oblivious to the sounds of people talking all around him. "He's going to wear hole in the tatami mats if he doesn't stop soon."

"She'll live. The wounds aren't that bad. Fixing the collarbone of her shoulder was the worst once I got the bandages off her feet. Can you run those through one of your thingamabobs later to see what was covering them to make them so stiff?"

Kisuke gave her an odd look and then nodded, turning back so that they could both hear more of what was being said with a muttered comment about thingamabobs and gadgets.

"So, by all the calculations that anyone has managed so far, when the weird disturbance showed up on the radar was when we went from fighting two midlevel arrancar to fighting over a thousand weak hollows without any warning. Rukia, you were the one closest to the damned thing when it arrived. Did you find out whatever the fuck it was?"

"An injured shinigami who Yourichi-san and I just spent three hours working on being diverted from wherever she was headed into the middle of Karakura town."

Renji blinked for a second. "Everyone who was supposed to be in the human world fighting is here. How did an unauthorized shinigami manage to open a gate and sneak through unnoticed with all of Soul Society watching?"

Yourichi let out a sigh, "That is because she didn't, Renji. I don't think she's ever even seen Soul Society. She had already been in the human world and was trying to escape from being dragged to Las Noches when Kisuke decided to meddle and bring her here."

A cacophony of swearing erupted at this announcement, broken off suddenly by a brisk "Enough," from Hitsugaya.

"Whatever she is, we need to request for her to be brought to Soul Society in protective custody for questioning, at least until we know whether she is a threat or not." The captain rubbed his temples. "Dammit, what else do we know about this?" he finished, waving one hand in a vague, disgusted gesture.

"Masumi."

"What?"

Ichigo stopped pacing and stood still, shutting his eyes as if in pain before answering. "Her name is Dakamoragu Masumi."

Renji and Chad both started at the name sharply, staring dumbly for a second. Chad recovered first, speaking softly, obviously hurt by the loss.

"Dakamoragu -san is dead? But, how? She was alive in class today! Ichigo, are you sure?"

"I know that, Chad. My sister is refusing to leave her side until she wakes up because of just how badly those bastards tortured her and Karin felt it. That is why she was here in the first place, because she came looking for me as soon as she felt Masumi die."

Renji spluttered for a second before he blurted out "But why in all of damn fucking hell would those bastards pick a little fucking mouse like Dakamoragu -san to do that to? She doesn't have any spiritual power otherwise someone would have noticed even a little. But none of us have seen anything around her, not even Ishida! Even Chizuru and Asano show more reiatsu than she does. There is no fucking way that Aizen is going to go to all the effort of killing a completely normal college student who works as the English tutor and making her into a shinigami!"

Yourichi rubbed her ears, glaring in annoyance as she waited for the ringing sound she heard to fade enough that she could hear the silence that followed Renji's shouting. "Renji-kun, that is enough! We are taking this to the back room. Ichigo, shut up. I'm not going to hurt her. I just need to check the girl's feet to see if it is safe to rebandage them yet and the sooner everyone sees her, the sooner she gets to Soul Society. Now all of you, quiet or you'll wake her up and I am going to be really pissy if I have to redo the stitches in her shoulder."

It was the best idea any of them had to solve this and from the looks on their faces they knew it. No one uttered a complaint as they followed Yourichi back.


	6. Chapter 6

Hitsugaya stood behind Yourichi, watching the former captain examine the girl's feet as she wiped the layer of salve away so that they could look at the burns. The muted sounds of voices talking from the shop grew sounded briefly louder, unfiltered by the door as Urahara left to contact the Captain Commander before it shut again slowly, the sound of footsteps fading quickly as he went. It had only taken one look at the fragile looking woman lying unconscious for Ikkaku and Yumichika to leave, following Rukia and Karin, Chad lingering a few seconds longer before nodding and walking out behind the rest.

"That should be the last of it," Yourichi said and went to stand next to where Ichigo had stationed himself near the girl's head, well out of the way of the three officers. He stooped down and lifted her left foot, only to nearly drop it as soon as he actually saw the burns. The entire sole of her foot was a blistering, angry red with odd crystalline streaks cracking the surface and three darker burns, so red as to be almost black, etched into the instep. He blinked and looked more closely at the marks, tilting her foot so that it caught the light, showing the deliberate patterning of the red lines. Even so, it was nearly a minute before it truly sunk in to his mind just what they had burned into their feet. The soft gasp and sharper hiss behind him confirmed that both Matsumoto and Renji had realized as well that the odd lines were in fact kanji written with kidou burns into the instep. And while the blisters had blurred the lines slightly, it had not taken long to recognize just what they had written on her arch: the numbers five, three, and nine. A glance at the other foot showed that it bore identical marks, down to the pinkish crystals that covered the rest of her sole.

"They are sending another captain to help escort her and the Captain Commander has given his permission to gate her directly into the Fourth division." Urahara said softly, his sandals clicking softly as he moved behind them to look at her feet. It was impossible to truly tell what he felt without looking at him as he reached out a hand and stopped himself before he touched the crystal lines. "Girl, what did they put on your feet to do this sort of damage?" he asked, his voice soft and low, a thread of anger purring just beneath the surface.

"Salt."

The answer came soft and flat, no emotion carrying through in the tone. The word caught a bit at the edges as if the speaker was asleep or drugged. Urahara raised his head slightly as he stepped to the side, his hand holding his hat in place to keep it from fluttering in the gentle breeze that came through the gate which had opened in the doorway while the rest of them stiffened slightly. Hitsugaya did not need to look behind him to know that it both of the officers behind him had their hands on their swords ready to draw at the first hint of a threat from the young woman in front of him.

Urahara let out a soft sigh and began to wave the fan he kept inside the inside pocket of his coat absently as he mused out loud. "Oh dear, I forgot that was one of the side effects. Yourichi, when did she take the medicine?"

"Almost an hour ago." Yourichi answered, not bothering to hide the confusion and impatience in her voice as she stood, her hand near Ichigo's shoulder so that she could grab or block him if the situation became worse.

"Urahara," Hitsugaya warned the shopkeeper softly.

"The anesthetic that Yourichi gave her earlier was designed to render the person taking it completely unconscious instantly, but it also has the side effect that once it is in the person's blood stream, there is a window of thirty minutes to an hour where the person will answer every question that is asked of them. There are some drawbacks since the question has to be asked directly to them and they will only be able to give a very literal answer, but it is quite effective, even as a medicine. You still have up to half an hour before it wears off."

"Hitsugaya -teicho, I ask permission to resume the questioning immediately," came the soft and reserved female voice from the doorway, near where the gate had closed moments before.

Hitsugaya stood and turned, nodding to where Soifon stood. "I will let you start the questioning then." He moved to stand by the girl's left shoulder, opposite from Yourichi and Ichigo. The dark haired captain moved forward, her released zanpakuto obviously resting against the white of her haori and began.

"What is your name?"

"Dakamoragu Masumi"

"Are you an ally of Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin, or Tousen Kaname?"

"No."

"What were you before you became shinigami?"

"I was a college student who worked as an English tutor and a part time caretaker for where I lived."

"What were the events of today that lead to you becoming shinigami?"

"It was after midnight when I finished cleaning up from practice and I picked up the mirror to remove the contacts I had to wear for the performance when I noticed it had been spelled. I managed to push through the spell enough to see the man on the other side. He had dark hair and his sword was half drawn in front of him. He smiled and began to laugh when I told him that I would not let him hurt me or any of those I protected and I broke the mirror breaking the spell. For a second, there was an odd sort of doppleganger that looked like me before it disappeared back to the man I had seen through the broken pieces of the mirror. After that, I took a taxi home after that and reinforced all of my outer protections so it was not able to attack any of my charges through the day. As soon as I got off the bus on my way back from class though, I knew that they had gotten through my wards by breaching the emergency access that I had set into them. I ran to get help as soon as I realized but one of them chased me. I tried to fight back but he pinned me before I could hit him and held me until one of the others came. They dragged me back to the house and they used me to force my own protections out of the way. The man from the mirror was waiting inside the door. He held his sword in front of my eyes and asked me what I saw. I told him a sword and he laughed at me. Then he had the other two hold my hands and feet while he burnt them. He told me that it was interesting that my kind could see through illusions and asked if it had worked so well through the mirror. I tried not to answer him and to hide in the tower that I found I could get to when the pain was too bad, but he dragged me back out every time I went to get there. And he told me that he knew what I was for my house and asked me to serve him. I refused, and every time I refused he did something to me. First, he treated my feet with salt and bandaged them, then he started with the cuts around my neck and face. I could feel him beginning to come close to my control and I pushed myself into the tower, but he pinned me through the collarbone with his sword and when I started he literally forced me out from there. He showed me where his hand was bandaged then and tried to spell me to see just how strong I was in my power to have sent a tengu-yokai puppy to attack him. I knew then that he wanted to make me rouge and I had to get away. I could not get back to the tower anymore, and I was too afraid to keep fighting him. So when he stood and pulled his sword away, I drained all of the power that I had protecting my house. He had the two men who were helping him keeping guard over me with their swords pointed at my heart. I used my own power to force my body to sit up onto the swords, meaning to kill myself. I even felt myself die, but he pushed power through my barriers. I almost held him off, but I was too weak, and when I opened my eyes, he was just standing there, smiling. The taller of the two guards pulled me to m feet then and told me that they would let me go free, that they would let me go free and not bother me or my territory again if I could outrun them to the end of the tunnel. I agreed. It was the only chance I had. The dark guard opened the tunnel and told me that I should start to run. I did, and then I fell, and when I got up, I was being chased by the dark haired girl who helped with my stitches and I was here."

Towards the end of the testimony, a thread of panicked fear had begun to creep into the woman's voice and her arms shook as if fighting to keep from reliving the thoughts that must be in her head and it was already clear the medicine was beginning to wear off.

"Soifon, you have five minutes before she awakens." Urahara said softly from where he stood in the corner of the room, confirming what Hitsugaya had begun to suspect.

"Were you ever human or something that at one point in time was human ?"

"Yes." The shifting became more noticeable and Soifon began to speak a little faster. "Are you currently still a human or at least a human spirit?"

"Yes."

Soifon stopped, biting her lower lip. It was clear that she had expected one of the answers to be no and was now uncertain of her next question. Honestly, Hitsugaya had to admit to himself, he would be in the same position if the questioning was reversed. He could not think of any human class that would explain the controlled sort of power that the girl's actions hinted at."

"Ask your last questions. It will not last much longer." Urahara said, impatience leaving his voice slightly sharper than the normal mellow commands he issued.

"Soifon, let me." Yourichi said, her hand raised as if to stave off the argument that she expected to come. "Girl, are you a rusubin?"

"Yes."

"Were you born a true rusubin?"

"Yes."

"What is your jurisdiction?"

"I am not strong enough yet to hold an official one on my own, so the area I cover is not officially mine yet."

"Rusubin, where is it that you take care of?"

"Karakura town and the surrounding areas."

"Did they even begin to succeed in making you rogue?" The last question came out in a half frantic rush of words from Yourichi.

"No, I killed myself first."

Yourichi smiled and reached down, ruffling the girl's hair as she stirred, clearly awakening. "Good girl." There was a breathy note of relief that crept through in her voice with those few words that belied just how happy Yourichi was to hear the last answer. She nodded slightly toward Soifon and the Second Division captain returned her zanpakuto into its normal state.

"I will let the others who are waiting know that we only need someone to help transport, not the full escort that we were expecting," she said and reopened the gate, sending a hell butterfly through.

"Masumi -sensei, please lay still. I promised you that you'd be safe here."

" Hush, Ichigo. I know that. Please, I just need to sit up." the girl replied. Her voice was stronger, more certain than it had been when she had been under the drug, but there was a tremor underneath that said more clearly than anything else just how hard she was fighting to hold herself together. The gauntness of her features and the dark circles that rimmed her eyes had not been so obvious when they had seen her unconscious either, though he thought, looking at the girl as she stubbornly tried to sit up on her own, only to be caught by Ichigo when she failed. Her eyes darkened slightly as she fell back a little, wincing as if her head hurt before opening her eyes again.

"Masumi, stop fighting before you hurt yourself. Dammit, you will hit me if I do anything to help you right now."

"No, not if it gets the room to quit spinning. Do whatever you need to, kunji."

Ichigo waited for a second as if expecting her to say something more, and when she did not, his eyes began to widen but he kept his tone neutral as he said "Remember you told me that, sensei." and picked her up so that she was half sitting, leaning against Ichigo's shoulder for support while her left hand fiddled with a bracelet that she wore, half hidden in her sleeves. Suddenly, she tugged at the cord and it snapped and she held the bracelet up so that everyone could see it, the silver charms of the bracelet clinking softly on the red cord. She smiled sadly at it, and for a second, it felt as if the power level in the room may have increased. If it was the girl's reiatsu though was impossible to determine with all of her energy masked by Kurosaki Ichigo's.

"Go," she told the chain of charms in her hand. It took less than a second for whatever spell she had created to take effect, too fast for anyone to react and all they could do was watch as the bracelet seemed to turn into thousands of silvered black light motes that shot off in all directions, all in less than a second. Hitsugaya began to stiffen, bracing himself to deal with this strange sort of kidou when one of the sparks touched right above his heart. It felt as if it dissolved and he could hear this odd voice speaking in his head "The 16th true rusubin and unofficial council member acting for Karakura town and surrounding areas is dead. Treaty not violated. Attempts to make rogue failed. All ties with allies are broken." He blinked as the message faded, the odd strange calm he had felt at the message slowly melting away as well. Soifon shook her head, a gesture which Ichigo mirrored before he looked at the girl he was holding, confusion showing on his features.

"Masumi, what did you just do?" She leaned back against his shoulder again and looked up, her face looking even more drained and wan after the effort the gesture had cost her as she opened her mouth to answer. Before she got the first word out of her mouth though, Komamaru's gruff voice answered from where he stood in front of the gate that had reappeared in the doorway.

"She destroyed all of that which tied her power to the duties of being a rusubin. Those that are dying or close to death use it as a fail-safe so that no one will turn their alliances against them. I have seen it once before. If she would have done less, then we would have known she was rogue and would have been forced to kill her. It is part of the reason that we keep to the treaty we have with the rusubin council, because they keep such a close watch on their own."

Hitsugaya nodded approvingly. "Ah, good. You are to help transport this one then?"

"Yes. We need to leave immediately while the gate is still secure."

Ichigo looked up and went to step forward until he heard Soifon's voice."

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you are not authorized to go through the gate. Hand the girl to Komamaru so we can leave."

Ichigo stood there woodenly, still holding her. "I don't care if I can go through or not. She is my friend and I gave my word that-."

"Kurosaki-kun, the captains would not be taking her to the Fourth Division if they meant to hurt her. And she will die if she does not get something other than her own reiatsu to draw energy from soon." Urahara said. Ichigo still refused to move.

"Ichigo, I will be fine. Now, please listen to them, student. This is not worth fighting over."

Ichigo reluctantly held out his arms and Komamaru took Masumi, tucking her into the crook of one arm. Not, Hitsugaya noted, his sword arm as he took his place in the guard formation in front of Matsumoto and Renji and they all flashstepped through, leaving Urahara to shut the gate behind them.


	7. Chapter 7

Renji swung his blade down in a sharp downward arc at one last monster as he shut the gate behind them and turned breathlessly to rejoin the rest of the group, cursing softly to himself about the necessity of taking the gate for unauthorized shinigami. He bent forward at the waist slightly, placing his hand over the stitch in his side and focused on breathing again as he listened to Komamaru telling Unohana what had happened in the shop.

"Abarai, you're late,"

Renji straightened and turned to the side of the room where the voice had come from, bowing formally at the sight of his captain and Ukitake both standing along the wall.

"Gomenasai, teicho. I will try to be on time with my next -" Renji faltered for a second, trying to remember just what it was that he had forgotten in the fighting.

"Under the circumstances, the fact that you forgot to report back for five hours is understandable. I take it that I will be hearing your report of today's events at the joint meeting, Abarai?"

"Yes, teicho." Renji agreed with a nod, the slight relief at avoiding a reprimand from Byakuya completely disappearing at the thought of a full meeting of all the captains and vice-captains. In all his time in Soul Society, he had never heard of a situation that was urgent enough to require that, not everything that had happened with Ichigo and Rukia, not even the situation with Aizen had needed that.

"Have their been any preliminary checks of her condition and her strength levels?" Unohana asked.

The question broke Renji's train of thought and he looked up. "Ai. Yourichi and Rukia had most of her wounds treated by the time we saw them and Urahara said that they were serious, but not life threatening. I haven't felt any spiritual energy from her, and if it weren't for what I saw with the bracelet, I would say that she has even less that that of a normal human soul. Whatever that means, Urahara said that she needed to get some source of energy outside her own reiatsu soon if she was going to live. The only other thing I can tell you is that she was conscious when we left Urahara's shop."

"She still is," came the slightly muffled voice from by Komamaru. Not so muffled to keep the irritation out of her voice, or to hide the slight slurring that left the otherwise clear words faded a little around the edges though, Renji noted. If what he heard in the girl's voice had disturbed him though, it had obviously alarmed Unohana.

"Please, let me see the girl," Unohana asked, an urgency suddenly present in the captain's normally soft voice. Komamaru did so without an argument, and Unohana took the girl, balancing her easily.

"Isane, please go get an IV, a glucose and saline drip solution, a short lasting intravenous pain medicine with a codeine derived base, gauze, antiseptic, reiatsu infusions, and Yamada-kun and bring them to the first empty room available."

The vice-captain nodded and both women flash stepped off in different directions.

"I believe we should be heading to the meeting," Ukitake said pointedly, moving to usher the other captains and vice-captains towards the hallway leading out of the division, "before the Fourth division is not the only one with its captain and vice-captain arriving late."

They began walking slowly, a strained silence developing as they all began to feel the tension that almost seemed to flow off Ukitake in waves, a far cry from the captain's normal relaxed demeanor. Part of Renji wanted to break that silence and ask just what the meeting was about, and another part of him wanted to have the silence stretch out as long as possible, just in case his captain had changed his mind about being angry enough to reprimand him for his belated report. Matsumoto looked over, the concerned look on her face showing that the situation bothered her just as much, if not more, than it did Renji.

"Ukitake-teicho, how long do you think she will be in the Fourth Division?" she asked, torn very strongly between anger and worry. It did not surprise Renji that the vice-captain was so worried about a strange girl she had just met, but the level of anger in her voice took him aback after everything that they had dealt with today until he remembered a comment she had made during a drunken conversation awhile back, telling him about how she had met Gin when she was starving to death in Rukongai. Remembering that, he could only imagine how much of a personal betrayal Matsumoto felt, knowing that Gin had done this to a girl that reminded the vice-captain so forcibly of her younger self. There was no way that he could tell her that he knew that, not right now, but part of him wished that there was as they listened, waiting for Ukitake's answer.

"I truly do not know. Being rusubin is part of how she was strong enough to survive in the first place, but it is also how she ended up nearly draining her reiatsu. Her recovery depends on how strong she is, and that could be quite a long time in her current state. She is much younger than I had thought she would be."

The gates of the First Division were open as the group joined the stream of other captains and vice-captains who were streaming in and formed into their ranks, any talking fading as soon as they entered the door. There was a blur of movement and Unohana and Isane flash stepped into their respective places just as the Captain Commander entered and the meeting began. Instead of beginning the meeting by speaking as he normally did though, he bowed formally to the wall opposite where he stood. Or, rather, Renji noted, what should have been a wall. In its place was a screen not unlike the one that the video monitor in Urahara's shop had, but far more liquid in its appearance, as if someone truly could step through the screen and into the room if they chose to. Looking closer at the screen, it was frighteningly clear that both of the people shown by the screen would have no qualms about doing such a thing if they were provoked. And, if the expressions on their faces were any indication, it would not take much to provoke them.

"Shinsanorya -shi, Hirikka -shi, thank you for meeting with us so promptly."

"Yamamoto- dono, we could not do less and keep with the spirit of the treaty we have with the shinigami."

"Nor could we, with this meeting being about what happened to one of yours today, rusubin."

"Be that as it may," said the figure who had answered and they all heard a sigh from the man on the other side of the screen, and from the corners of their eyes, everyone took another surreptitious glance at the screen and the figures beyond it. The figure that was speaking was a younger man dressed in a business suit, seated at a desk with one hand rubbing his temple in frustration while the other figure stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. In the light, it was clear that she was the elder of the two, her dark hair liberally streaked with gray tied back severely above the collar of the military uniform she wore. In spite of the obvious emotion which should have shown in their gesture and the atmosphere of anger that was tangible even through the screen, there was a level of control underlying every movement and action the two made, so much so that none of the anger had come through in the man's voice when he spoke but only the calm, polite, almost friendly address that one would greet a respected business colleague with.

"There is one more question that the treaty demands I ask, in spite of the fact we both already know the answer, but I need to ask before I say anything else. Yamamoto, as head of the Gotei 13 and Captain Commander of the shinigami ranks, did you authorize what lead to the death of Dakamoragu Masumi, who was in the process of becoming the 16th member of the rusubin council and the actively functioning watch for Karakura town and the surrounding areas?"

"No, I did not, nor did any of the shinigami under my command. The traitors are no longer with us."

"No, I did not think that you had, but the treaty did require me to ask. Now that the required formalities are done, let me speak plainly if there is any hope for this meeting to be brief. The traitors did not violate the treaty that we have with the shinigami so it is still necessary for me to do the same, which ties my hands considerably, but I can offer you that help which I am able to without hesitation if that will destroy the traitors all the sooner."

"Shinsanorya, are you speaking for all of the rusubin or as an individual when you say that?"

The woman behind the desk cleared her throat and spoke. "In this matter, he speaks as both. I have received word from the rest of the council members and they have agreed to help as well since it is a more than personal matter. If it were otherwise, it would be the thirteenth seat of the council standing here in my stead since she would not need to have traveled so far and was even closer to Dakamoragu-san in life than I was. However, as the second seat of the council, I am willing to vouch that this is no personal vendetta but truly a matter of concern that the rest of us are willing to support Shinsanorya in as far as the treaty will allow us."

"Then, please do so. Anything that would help us in our war against the traitors would be most welcome at this point."

"Very well. I already have a compilation of all of Dakamoragu Masumi's records thanks to Hirikka's involvement in helping her file for emancipation rights which I will have one of our allies send with a copy of the testimonies of various humans and shinigami who witnessed her state earlier today as soon as they have finished transcribing it. In the meantime, I can do this."

Before anyone could question just what "this" actually was, the man tapped a small coin-shaped token which he had picked up and spoke to it.

"Greetings to Hakuzosu Daisuke, Hakkei of the tailed brothers from he who cares for the Ryukyu Islands and she who cares for Fujiyama and Lower Honshu."

The token glinted with a soft bronze glow and a voice answered from it, loud and clear enough to be heard easily "Greetings to you as well, Shinsanorya Hasaki, Hirikka Yukimoe. What need do the dragon of the islands and the tsurara-onna of Fuji need of us?"

"We are calling to ask aid of our tailed brothers for our allies so that they may learn more about one of ours who has joined them."

"Keep your favor, rusubin. This we will do freely, whether the girl's favor stands or not. After what she did for us in the past month by dealing with the outcast yuko who became akume and everything that they left behind, she has earned such loyalty, even if it did not give us reason to spy on the death god with the unfortunately similar name who was so involved in this. Pity this is not something that I could bite this one for with how he disgraces the name of fox and acts as just a general pain in each of and every one of my individual tails and that of every lawful kitsune in the brotherhood. Dare I hope that letting you hear a way to knot their tails together would actually work instead?"

"If it is within bounds that we and our allies may follow, then yes."

"Oh, we can manage a good bit more than that, my tailless dragon brother, a good bit more to help you and the death gods both. Listen."

There was a brief sound like wind chimes that were being tossed about in the middle of a thunderstorm before the distinct sound of footsteps and muttered swearing were heard, still coming from wherever they were transmitting to the token in the rusubin's hand.

"Ah, Aizen-sama, I'm a thinkin' that that message a bit ago might mean that the little mouse we were a tryin' to catch might have been smart enough not to have gotten lost in a one way tunnel. The arrancar just finished the last search and there ain't hide nor hair of her to be seen. Couldn't be as easy as something' just ate her, could it."

"No, hardly. And someone with the sort of aim that she had to send the monsters, not to mention to avoid all thirteen of the traps that we sent to fetch for her, would have been able to avoid the hollows long enough to not be eaten. Although, it is possible, I suppose since she no longer has the power of a rusubin to help. However, I believe it appears she had the sense to somehow find a way to escape from the garguntura. Not that it will help her. She has cut all of her ties with the rusubin, and the shinigami have strict rules about taking someone who was created illegally. Especially a rusubin shinigami with the treaty in place."

"So Soul Society will have to throw the little mouse back out again if she lives long enough to get there. That's good, Aizen-sama. It'd have been a pity if something ate her before I got a chance to play a bit, don'cha think?"

"Normally, I would say that you were being petty, Gin, but with the little rusubin, I am almost inclined to agree. I do have to wonder how she got a hold of that sort of demon to send though."

"So Ulquiorra found out what type of puppy it was that bit ya?"

"Yes. Hellhound. A Celtic monster that is like a cross between a tengu-yokai and an okuri-inu, only a bit more vengeful than either spirit it seems. They seem to have a specific role when it comes to dealing with oath breakers. Which certainly explains why I am needing to rebandage my hand again. Oh, while he was at it, I also had him look up what the last two monsters you and Kaname got were. A bit surprising, to be honest. I would not have thought that the rusubin would have been allowed to be so vindictive. Although, if she was in charge of Karakura town, I suppose that is only reasonable on her part."

"Alright. I already guessed mine was a bitchy sort of water spirit from the seeing pool that she put up right before she tried to drown me, but I think Kaname might have overdone it a bit. I mean, ain't crispy-critterin' it and half of the kitchen 'til they're ash a bit extreme, even for him."

"Possibly, but I wouldn't complain overly much, Gin." Aizen warned softly. "If it had been that monster in your bathtub instead of the water spirit, which Ulquiorra informs me is called a nix, we would not be having this conversation. Kaname is the only one here who even had a chance at surviving that sort of attack."

"Well, ya can't fault her for her aim at putting the enchanted toad in the kitchen and thinking' one of us would have found it and tried to break it usin' kidou. But why the hell'd anyone want to keep a half hatched cockatrice egg in the first place? An it was a cockatrice, right? 'Tween the toad Wonderwice was chasing and Granz mutterin' about serpentine DNA in the egg carton, not likely to be anythin' else."

"No, it was a cockatrice, and given an hour or more it would have been a basilisk. It was mere luck that Kaname was the one to find it and kill it. Still, I do wish that there had been a way of saving its venom. It could have proven quite interesting to see what sort of weapon it could have been used for. Pity about that, but at least we won't have to worry about the little rusubin sending any more nasty presents to keep us from interfering with her jurisdiction. The possessed yuki-onna was an interesting diversion, and even the stone demon, the half Japanese datsueba who also was apparently part dangga, and the gashadokuro were nothing more than minor annoyances. The kurage-no-hinotama was simply a bizarre phenomenon, and the rest of the things were easy enough to deal with. But those last three were beginning to become a problem. If we had not taken care of her when we did, she might actually have become a danger in the future."

"You're sure that this is the end of it, Aizen-sama? I thought in the treaty that--"

Aizen laughed quietly and went back to the normal conversational tone he had kept throughout the conversation that grated on Renji's nerves in a way that was far more frightening to him than Gin's anger had been. "Oh, being shinigami isn't what will stop Soul Society from taking her. Without proof that it was an intentional attack from a shinigami to make her rouge and not an accident or even an intentional decision on her part that simply ended in a rather tragic failure, she is too much of a danger for Soul Society to take. In fact, in spite of the fact that the attempts failed, I wouldn't be surprised if they had to kill her anyway just to keep that from being a risk. Or they would if the rusubin council wouldn't interfere. Who knows? If we are lucky they just might anyway."

"Yeah. Hey, did you see that light by the window? The green one?"

"Interesting. It looks like phosphorescent dust. I wonder how it got onto that window ledge? It could be just part of Szayel's experiments, but with everything else, I think I had better have a closer look just in case it does turn out to be another problem."

For a second, the sound of footsteps began to come closer only to be replaced by again by the sounding chimes and the rather pleased voice of the Hakkei came through again.

"I take it that is the sort of information you needed?" asked the kitsune, keeping the note of well earned smugness from his voice with audible effort.

"How - that was more than I had hoped for. That is certainly more than enough. What do the rusubin owe the tailed brothers for this?"

"As I've already told you once, there is no debt between us for this is no favor but a matter of loyalty between the brotherhood and her. We would be poor allies if we did not give some honor to that but I suppose that since it is you and the death gods asking and not her, I am obliged to ask something. So, just send my regards to the pretty little firebird that holds your thirteenth seat and to the newest kit that her worthless husband has foisted on her and we will call it even. I refuse to ask more for something I wish to do anyways."

"I will tell Amazorakou what you said."

"Good. She is almost as cunning as the little kirin sister was. Now, go and speak with the death gods so that you can make good on that offer to knot their tails together. That is something I truly wish to see."

The soft glow that had encompassed the token faded and Shinsanorya lowered his arm back to the desk. "Yamamoto-dono, thanks to the assistance from the twelve-tailed fox of the Kohaku clan I am able to extend the full help provided for in the treaty under such circumstances. However, Dakamoragu Masumi is under your authority now even more than she was ever under mine. Do you will me to do so?"

The Captain Commander nodded. "Your concern is understood, but there is no problem posed with this. It will not interfere with the fact she is shinigami or her duties as such. Reinstate the girl as rusubin and cut the traitors out of the treaty."

He nodded and took another token from the thick chain of them that hung at his waist and pressed it softly and it glinted the same silvered black as the ones in the shop had before turning a soft green and then silver and a tiny but clear form of a kirin appeared, etched in an almost luminous light onto the token as the rusubin sat silently concentrating on the small silver disk. A moment later he nodded again and straightened up.

"Hirikka, you are the most senior rusubin. This next part is yours by right," he said before and ducked his head again and continued to fiddle with the glowing medallion until it was completely encompassed in a small orb of energy that trailed off into a delicate net of threads, or at least that was what it looked like to Renji's inexperienced eyes. However, given the analytical, almost critical look that the female rusubin gave to the token before she began to speak made him wonder if she was seeing something behind the orb and net that as shinigami none of them were able to see. Hirikka began to speak then, her voice far a deep and rich alto, far gentler than her would have expected from a woman who looked even more like the strict and terrifying sort of military librarian than Nanao did. "The head of the rusubin council and the senior rusubin of Fujiyama hereby reinstate Dakamoragu Masumi officially as the sixteenth seat of the rusubin council and the rusubin of Karakura Town. Moreover, let it be known to any that are allied to the rusubin that the three shinigami traitors, Kaname Tousen, Ichimaru Gin, and Aizen Sousuke are no longer part of the alliance between the rusubin and shinigami after today."

Three strands of the light net snapped, dissolving in the same way that Masumi's bracelet had back in the shop and the corners of Hirikka's mouth twitched up slightly, an expression that Renji had only ever seen once before when in gigai in the living world, watching an elderly panther in the zoo trapping a small furry animal that had been thrown into its cage for a meal. It had been years since Renji had seen that look, and if the brief glimpse that he had seen of it from the rusubin before she reschooled her face into the normal cool expression she had been wearing before, it was a look that Renji honestly hoped to never see on a human face ever again. From where he sat in front of her, the other rusubin missed the expression on his second seat's face, but he seemed to know when she had finished because he nodded and stood.

"That will have to be enough for now. Thank you for your assistance and in including us with the meeting, but the Hakkei is right. There is much that still needs to be dealt with yet because of what has happened for both the rusubin and the shinigami. Excuse us then. As much as I wish to know what has happened with Masumi-san, it would be best for me to inform our other allies of what has happened and leave you to finish your meeting in peace. Yamamoto-dono, please let me know when she is healed enough to begin resuming her duties as a rusubin and I will provide the help to train her with long distance work until she is ready to leave Soul Society."

The screen flickered and disappeared, leaving just the blank wall and door opposite the Captain Commander through the rest of the meeting.

It was nearly two hours later when Renji walked out of the meeting, feeling rather bleary and tired as he walked next to his captain back to the division, keeping silent as much out of frustration as exhaustion. Even after the help from the rusubin, the testimonies from Soifon and Hitsugaya about what they had seen in the shop, his own report on events and the girl's identity, and Unohana-teicho's evaluation of her state, they were still no closer to finding a solution to this mess than they had been before. Hell, Renji thought with a snort of bleak humor, things were so fucked up that Captain Commander had ended the meeting without even announcing what division she would be in if she ever got of the Fourth.

"Abarai, go get sleep."

Renji raised his head suddenly, and turned to face Byakuya, and knew that the surprise must be obvious on his face even as he did so. "Kuchiki-teicho?"

"Go back to your quarters and sleep, Abarai," the captain repeated, his voice sounding slightly tired but otherwise the same expressionless voice that his captain always had "before you leave yourself too weak to fulfill your duties as vice-captain. That is an order."

"Yes, teicho." Renji bowed and turned to go back to his quarters, looking over his shoulder and watching as his captain walked back towards the office rather than his own quarters, the hem of the white haori flapping softly in the breeze as he left. Renji sighed and continued walking until he got to his quarters and shut the door before falling promptly and deeply to sleep.

A/N: Anybody wondering about the mythological creatures? Because Masumi is half Welsh Australian/half Japanese, this gave me a chance to play with my mythological background a lot. The idea of a basilisk with Tousen was just too priceless to miss. Same with the hellhound, since their main prey are oathbreakers. I thought the cross breed of a clothes stealing spirit and a vampire which feeds on gay men was great. Same with the jellyfish that explodes into fireballs. Kirin, or the Oriental variation of a unicorn are protectors of the pure, and with Masumi being rusubin as well as with her age, it seemed to reflect her better than most of the council. Can I honestly say that my favorite character so far is the Hakkei? I wish I could include him more, but, alas. Hope you are enjoying this so far.


	8. Chapter 8

_She was still running, her bare feet making a dull thud as they hit the frozen pavement outside of the apartment building, rubbing her hands on her shorts as she ran, trying to get the plastic feel of dead skin off of her hands. No matter how hard she tried though, she could still feel it, even with the numbness that she felt spreading through her arm. She still kept running, trying to focus on breathing as she ran past the cemetery, her old house, and the darkened houses of everyone she used to know. She nearly ran past the local clinic when she noticed a light shining through one of the curtained windows there. Skidding to a halt, she walked a few steps forward through the snow that had piled up since earlier this evening, squared her shoulders, and knocked on the clinic door. A pain was beginning to spread through her left arm where it had gone numb earlier and she moved her shoulder, wincing a bit as she slid the messenger bag filled with her things and her school uniform off her shoulder and kept knocking. It felt like hours later when the light finally went off and she collapsed to her knees in the snow, hugging the bag against her in the snow and she began to cry. The tears felt cool against her skin and she just sat in the snow, holding her left arm in the snow bank, hoping that the cold would make the burning pain stop. The door to the house opened and a man stepped out. "Hey, you punks! Get outta here! What do you think you're doing waking people up at night?" She sighed and stood up, wiping the tears off of her face with her right arm and pulling the messenger bag back over her shoulder as she began to head off. The man saw her move and walked over to where she stood. "Hey, I - Masumi-chan? What? What happened to you?"_

_"I - I just need a place to stay for the night. Gomenasai, sir." she said, bowing slightly, waiting for him to tell her to leave, suddenly aware of what an unkempt little urchin she looked like, standing there in her bare feet, with her sleep tangled hair and messenger bag, wearing shorts and a tee shirt. A sudden jab rushed through her arm and she started --._

And sat up, waking herself as she felt a hand catching her left hand and putting a bandage on. She wasn't in the clinic but in a strange hospital, with a different doctor standing next to her. "I'm sorry. I know that taking the IV out hurts, but I didn't think that you would wake up yet. How are you feeling?"

She looked, blinking as she looked at the black robed figure standing next to her, fussing around to get what looked like a blanket and some broth for her. She propped herself on the pillow, the loose robes around her sliding a bit as she did so, and she tugged at them absently, pulling them together a bit as she leaned forward, rocking softly as she tried to catch her breath.

"I - I'm better. I don't hurt as much. It wasn - it wasn't your fault I woke up. Really. You didn't hurt me with the IV. You were just doing your job. That isn't why I woke up. It was - it was. Just-just a dream. That's all. That's all. Really, I'm fine."

The man very gently draped a blanket over he shoulders, which were still shaking even after she had caught her breath from waking up so suddenly. No, boy, she mentally corrected. He didn't look as if he were much older than her. He gently took her hands and put a bowl of warm broth into it and she looked at him carefully and nodded.

"Arrigato, hakushi," she said softly and began to sip slowly at the broth. It tasted good, and she fought to keep herself from drinking it too fast, finally slowing down as she drained the last of the bowl. If she drank any more, she would be sick. The doctor had not given her very much, but it didn't change the fact that it was the only food that she had eaten since the breakfast shake and chocolate peanuts from the vending machine at lunch at school earlier today. Earlier, before everything had gone wrong.

"You - you don't need to call me that. I'm Yamada Hanatarou."

She straightened up a little bit. "Yamada Hanatarou. I see. I'm Dakamoragu Masumi."

The doctor smiled and took the bowl from her. "Dakamoragu Masumi. That's a pretty name. Okay, I think I can remember that. I'm sorry. You can keep talking, but Unohana-teicho wanted me to check your injuries once you woke up."

Masumi nodded. "I understand, Yamada-san. Go ahead."

The doctor looked at her and blushed softly as he began to check the wound on her shoulder. "No, everyone calls me Hanatarou. It's okay. It's an easy name to remember, really. Can you lie down for a second. The scar across your stomach looks redder than it did when Unohana-teicho did the preliminary examination earlier."

Her eyes widened a bit at the request before she took a deep breath, reminding herself that this was a doctor who was asking that as she lay back down. "I guess I understand that. I am only Dakamoragu-san when I am working. The rest of the time, everyone calls me Masumi or Little Mouse."

"Okay, you can sit up again now. It is healing better. Now, I'm going to check your feet. This might hurt a bit. But, why would people call you a little mouse?"

Masumi smiled and took the hand that Hanatarou offered her to help her sit up and dangled her legs off the edge of the bed, trying to keep still as the doctor bent down to examine her feet. "I guess because I look like one. I really don't know. Almost everyone I've ever met, ever since I was little, has called me that at least once. It's hard to mind when you've heard it all your life." She shut her eyes and breathed deeply as the doctor touched the burns. She knew he needed to, and that the pain meant that they were healing, but it still hurt to have him touch them.

"I'm sorry. I know that last part had to have hurt. I would heal you, but Unohana said that any more healing kidou might make things hurt even worse right now until you rest, so I'm going to put a burn plaster on to help it heal faster."

"I understand. It's fine. You don't have to apologize for trying to help me," she said, the ragged edge of her voice muffled by her knees as she focused on breathing. She had to be stronger. Not being strong enough was what had gotten her into this mess to begin with. She would not take that out on someone else, let alone someone who was trying to help her. She had gotten through worse wounds than this and never screamed or cried once, not since the night her cousin died when she began to find the edges of her tower. Just because she couldn't find her tower didn't change anything.

"That should help until morning. The reiatsu transfer should have taken enough by then for you to tolerate more healing kidou. How are you doing? Do you need anything?"

"No. Just listening to someone talking helps. It really does. I'll be fine in a second here."

She felt a hand gently resting on her shoulder. "Will you let me help you sit back up? If you stay bent like that, you're going to hurt your stomach and shoulder even more."

She nodded, still fighting to steady herself against the ragged, almost sobbing edge to her breathing hard enough that there was no resistance left for her to fight with as Hanatarou helped pull her shoulders back until she was sitting up again.

"There. Now, I need to check one more thing, but are you sure you don't want me to get you anything first? Maybe pain medicine would help?"

"No." The word came out much sharper than Masumi had intended and she instantly softened her tone. "No. I'm sorry. I developed a bad reaction to pain medicine a few years ago. I really don't need anything."

"Okay, then. I -ummm - I need you to sit up a little more. I- hold still," Hanatarou stammered briefly as he reached out and laid his hand over her heart very carefully. She wanted to ask him what it was he was checking when she felt the slight press of energy, not pushing but simply a slight buildup which settled over her heart. Almost immediately as she felt the slight touch though, the energy felt like it was burning through her, sharply and suddenly enough that the force of it left her with dark splotches and stars moving at the edge of her vision. The pain stopped almost as suddenly as it had come and Masumi gasped and blinked, feeling that forming tears that were clouding her vision as she felt the pain finally beginning to fade a little. She opened her eyes slowly then and tried to sit up, only to find she was already doing so. She looked up and saw the doctor staring at her, no longer the cheerful and rather apologetic figure who she had seen when she had woken up from the medicine. Instead, he now looked very concerned over whatever had just happened, and if she caught his eyes she could see something else. It could have been shock, it could have been anger, but she was too surprised by that look to think of asking him which before he spoke again.

"Your channels! That shouldn't have hurt at all! What did they do to you? How could they have hurt you like that?" Poor Hanatarou sounded so pained and bewildered at the thought of anyone hurting another person so deliberately, right on top of the last edges of the pain was what undid the last of Masumi's control and the tears that had been forming began to trail softly down her cheeks. The more she tried to stop it, the faster the tears seemed to flow until she was truly crying outright. The doctor stood there, one hand on her back for support and the other over her heart from the check, and began to gently pat her back comfortingly as Masumi tried to answer his question.

"I think they were too focused on trying to keep me alive to care if it hurt or not."

Hanatarou faltered, looking confused by what Masumi had just said. "But I thought the traitors killed you? Why would they try to save you if they were going to kill you?"

Masumi bowed her head a little and shook it, as much to keep from seeing the look on his face with what she had to say next. "They didn't want to kill me. They needed me alive to be able to turn me rogue. And I was too weak to keep them from dragging me out of the world in my head, to keep them from hurting me, so I-" The tears were running too fast now for her to be able to keep speaking and she simply sat there, shaking as she began to truly weep.

She wasn't sure how long it was that she cried, but finally she ran out of tears and just sat shivering as the last of the sobs choked out of her, leaving her tired and limp as she waited for the doctor to yell at her for pulling at the injuries by leaning forward again. Then, Masumi realized, that she was being held upright by the person sitting next to her, hugging her.

"Shhh. It's fine, it's fine," the person said comfortingly and Masumi realized with a start that the person who had hugged her when she was crying was the doctor who had been checking on her before. His hand tightened slightly on her back as she tried to back away and she stopped, realizing that he was trying to keep her from pulling her stitches.

"No, it is not. There should have been no need for you to need to do that. I should not have been letting myself cry like that. I'm sorry."

The doctor tilted his head to the side and looked at her oddly. "But, I would have been a bad doctor if I didn't do that. You were going into shock. Even though you were stable, I still had to do something to help."

The last comment sounded so much like something that Ichigo's dad might have told her when patching her up that she began to smile a little, not sure if it was because of the words themselves or because she couldn't imagine two people more different than Kurosaki Isshin and Yamada Hanatarou.

"I suppose not," Masumi conceded, beginning to feel a little more like her normal self. "but I still feel as if I should argue that point. Thank you."

"Be careful when you lean back so you don't tear the stomach wound or the stitches."

She nodded and slowly sat back as the doctor stood back up, and she sat cross legged and pulled the blanket around her shoulders tighter to block against any chill.

"You said talking would help. Do you want to tell me about your bracelet?" The doctor's voice sounded cheerful again. Masumi fought against the urge to shake her head again. She had told him that it would help, and it did, and he had tried to pick something that wouldn't hurt.

Masumi reached up and ran a hand absentmindedly through her hair, "The bracelet I destroyed was the sign I was --."

Hanatarou interrupted her. "You had another bracelet? I meant the one that you're wearing."

Masumi looked at him oddly. "You don't understand. I cannot wear my bracelet anymore. That is why I destroyed it, because I-," she gestured offhandedly and a bit of light caught her attention. She looked at her right wrist. There was a bracelet there. A bracelet made up of small silver tokens tied to a red cord.

"This can't be right! How could I - I destroyed this before I came to Soul Society."

Hanatarou shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's like a zanpakuto. They can regenerate themselves."

Masumi shook her head. "No, I know the treaty. These are different. They're only symbols for what a true rusubin is. They hold marks of all the alliances or favors a rusubin has with certain people or groups. That is why when anyone tries to make a rusubin rogue, the rusubin has to destroy it. The only way I could have one would be if I were still a rusubin."

"Then that's what happened. That's what the message meant."

"Message?"

Hanatarou nodded cheerfully. "Yes. It was like the ones that came before. Do the tokens normally flash like that?" he asked , reaching out gingerly stopping so that he would not accidentally touch the tokens on her bracelet.

Masumi turned the cord around her wrist until she could see it. "Sometimes. It means that there is a message," she said absently and found the token that was flashing with a soft light glow, flipping it over so that she could see the symbol carved into it. It was a sea dragon, Shinsanorya-sama's token. She took a deep breath to steady herself to touch it.

"You look worried. It's good that the bracelet returned, right?" Hanatarou asked, a slight worry line across his forehead creasing the otherwise still cheerful face.

"No, it is good. It's just the message is from my senpai, and he views failure as a personal betrayal. More for us than himself because if we fail, that means that he did not prepare us well enough to do our jobs. I might as well listen and get this over with." She touched the token quickly and braced herself for the yelling that knowing senpai, was almost inevitable when he was angry. Which made the first words that the token spoke even more of a shock.

"You did well, Masumi-chan. I do not know if anyone on the council could have done more than you did in that situation, so do not think that you failed. I am reinstating you as the rusubin of Karakura Town and any other areas that will be added because of your increase in power. If you were not still rusubin that would be impossible. You will resume the role once you are healed enough for Soul Society to allow Amazoraku-sama into Soul Society to train you for long distance work. The other rusubin will divide the area between them until then, so do not worry about neglecting your duties. And for God's sake, eat and sleep, girl, so that you actually can heal."

She blinked as the last couple of words faded. "Senpai isn't angry at me?"

Hanatarou smiled and shook his head. "It didn't sound that way to me. I need to stay here for a little longer, until Unohana-teicho comes back, but can I get you something? Are you tired?"

Masumi shook her head. "No, not yet. But I'll try to drink another bowl of broth. Maybe that will help."

He nodded and sent the order for another bowl, and sat down, grabbing one of the large boxes of bandages from a stack that were piled next to the bed. Masumi took a few from the box, in spite of his protests and began to roll them as they talked, in spite of the doctor's initial protests.

A good bit later, she finally stretched out, yawning as she began to doze, and gratefully heard Hanatarou wish her a good night as he put a blanket over her, taking the two boxes of bandages she had rolled from beside her on the bed as he turned off the main light. She thought she said good night in return, but she was not quite sure as she burrowed deeply under the blanket and allowed herself the first true sleep she had had in over a week.


End file.
